Egg Roll Express operated on Gale Avenue for decades. I can’t remember when it opened, but I think it closed sometime around when I moved back here in 2012. I remember driving by and feeling sad seeing plywood on the windows of what was once Peoria’s only takeout Chinese restaurant. In 2014 it briefly became a barbecue place, but that fizzled out and it went back to being a closed and empty building. I always fear these empty buildings will morph into a Starbucks or a Chipotle or yet another one of the other generic chains that seem to move in to empty buildings and make the landscape of towns just a little more drab and boring. Thankfully that didn’t happen at this location. I heard that it’s now a gourmet popcorn shop and that they make the popcorn on the premises. I love popcorn, so it’s off to the MBIP Mobile we go!

Look at the fabulous clouds in the sky, it’s almost as if we’re driving straight into heaven.

Well, it looks like we have indeed driven into heaven! Young’s Popcorn Heaven, that is!

There’s the outside of the building that once housed Egg Roll Express for decades.

Let’s go inside and take a glimpse of this popcorn heaven on earth.

Wow, it certainly smells heavenly in here! There’s a sweet popcorn scent in the air that smells great! I met Terry over there behind the counter and asked if he was the owner and he said he wasn’t, but he would go get them. I love it when things work out like this!

And here’s the husband and wife owners of Young’s Popcorn Heaven, Greg and JoAnn Young. They said they’ve been open a little over a month and that business has been great. They have over 35 styles of popcorn that range from sweet to savory to a mix of both. And all the popcorn is made fresh, right here on this heavenly site.

Here’s some of the bags of the popcorn on display in this basket near the front counter.

And there’s more over here. As you can see, they have a size for every occasion!

You can also get tins of popcorn in here and you can split the tin up into three different flavors of popcorn.

They also have gift boxes for birthday and holiday gatherings.

The kitchen is located back here, let’s go take a behind the scenes look, shall we?

As you can see, it’s a state of the art popcorn kitchen back here, very impressive!

And here’s some of the popcorn fresh out of the vats. I think this is the Heath Toffee Almond flavor. It smells...well...heavenly!

Meanwhile, back at the front counter, Terry is taking orders.

So I thought I’d join in and place an order myself. It’s mind-boggling when you start to look at all the different flavors offered here. Just a few of them include: White Chocolate Pretzel, Hot Wings Ranch, Birthday Cake and Parmesan Garlic.

All of the flavors are available to be sampled before you purchase a bag or tin. All you have to do is ask...

And ye shall receive! Here’s Terry preparing me a sample of...

The Nacho Cheese popcorn. It was delicious.

After my order came up, Terry gave me a card that when you get it all punched, you get a free bag of popcorn. Sweet! Or savory if that’s your preference.

Of course I kind of went nuts and over-bought! I just couldn’t make up my mind! Oh well, I’ll take some of it into work for an early holiday treat for everyone.

This gourmet popcorn is so tasty and I think it’s best to mix the sweet and savory, but you can do what you want to. When it comes to popcorn, there’s no rules...yet!